How Could I Not?
by SunshineSazy
Summary: Can detention lead to love? Shorty, fluffy stuff. RL/SB Slash.


DISCLAIMER: We don't own anything, just having a little fun with the characters.  
  
Warning: This story is slash. Don't like it? Don't read it. The story is just something we did for fun one day in work.  
  
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Remus sat staring at his transfiguration homework. For once he was unable to devote all his concentration to his work.  
  
As usual Sirius and James weren't doing their homework. Instead they were trying to think of new pranks to play on their next victim. More than likely it would be their old enemy Snape.  
  
Remus looked up from his parchment just in time to catch a devilish grin spreading across Sirius' face as a prank came into his mind. He couldn't help himself from thinking how good looking Sirius was with a grin plastered on his face. "Got a plan I guess." He stated more than asked.  
  
Sirius looked over to where Remus sat and their eyes met each other's. 'Wow', thought Sirius, staring into the other boy's eyes, now twinkling with mischief as he waited to hear Sirius' latest plot.  
  
"It's not one of the greatest we've done, but still good for a laugh at Snape's expense." Sirius began.  
  
"Well hurry up and tell us then Pads," James cut in.  
  
"We send Snape a parcel, using school owls of course so he doesn't know it's us. When he opens it in the Great Hall, something flies out and hits him in the face, like a custard pie or something similar."  
  
"Wouldn't he still get suspicious of something brought by a school owl though? You know how paranoid he gets. Can't we find out which owl is his?" Suggested Remus.  
  
"That's a better idea, a bit tricky but we can pull it off. As soon as we find out which owl is his we'll strike. I can't wait to see his face covered in custard." Sirius began to laugh the evil laugh he reserved specially for pranking Snape. This set the other boys off laughing too.  
  
"Should be quite easy to plan," said James. "Custard pie will be most willingly supplied by the house elves in the kitchen. We can watch tomorrow when the post comes in to see which owl is Snape's. Me and Sirius will go to the kitchens, get the pie, find a box, pack it up and charm it to splat itself in Snape's face. Then you and Pete, Rem, can take it to his owl. Try to persuade it that it's a surprise treat from Snape's parents or something. You're good with animals and stuff anyway, I'm sure you can think of something. Just make sure it brings it to Snape during breakfast in the Great Hall. As soon as Wormtail gets back from detention we'll fill him in on the plan."  
  
Sirius was so excited over the plan he was bouncing up and down in his chair.  
  
"If he gets any higher we'll have to scrape him off the ceiling," James chuckled to Remus.  
  
"He's just like an overgrown puppy," Remus answered back, the two boys laughing together at the look Sirius was giving them.  
  
Two days later everything had gone to plan and the four boys were waiting for the morning post to arrive. They sat at the Gryffindor table chatting amongst themselves and resisting the urges to keep looking towards the Slytherin table, knowing that this would cause suspicion when the prank actually happened.  
  
They didn't have to wait too much longer. Soon enough the owls came flocking into the Great Hall, dropping letters and parcels to many of the students. A large parcel fell directly in front of Snape, dropped by his own owl, and a rare smile appeared briefly on his face as he wondered what was inside.  
  
The Marauders had seen Snape's owl come into the Hall, but for now they kept their eyes on a package of sweet James had received from home, and a Daily Prophet delivered to Remus. They looked up only when they heard shouts of laughter from the Ravenclaw table, who were next to the Slytherins and the first to see the prank's effects, echoing round the Hall.  
  
As they looked past the crowd of people now staring at the Slytherin table they were just in time to catch Snape standing up, his face, hair and the top of his robes, covered in custard, which the house elves had, at James and Sirius' request, turned an acid green colour.  
  
The four Marauders joined in the laughter with the rest of the school when they saw how well their prank had worked. The only people not laughing were some of the stricter teachers and all of the Slytherins, who never laughed when something happened to one of their own house. Sirius laughed so hard at the thought of Snape running back to the dungeons with green custardy goo covering his face and hair that he fell off his chair.  
  
Back in the Gryffindor common room after the day's lessons were finished the four boys couldn't stop laughing and making jokes about Snape.  
  
"Did you see how fast he ran?"  
  
"I can't believe they really turned it green."  
  
"Did you notice he still had some in his hair during Care of Magical Creature?"  
  
"I wonder if he'll plot revenge on us." James chuckled, "not that anyone knows for sure it was us, but we'll be the first ones he suspects."  
  
"Anything he throws at us, we'll be ready for." Answered Sirius. "Besides I am the King of Pranksters, whatever he does to us I'll do back to him but twice as good."  
  
"Before you get carried away, remember we still have to do detention tomorrow, for the prank you pulled on McGonagall last week."  
  
"That's right, Moony. Bring us all down with detention reminder."  
  
Remus replied to Sirius simply by sticking his tongue out at him.  
  
"Well you're stuck with me for the whole four hours or however long we have to clean out the bedpans in the hospital wing." Sirius reminded Remus.  
  
Remus groaned. The thought of cleaning bedpans made him feel sick. Although the thought of spending around four hours alone with Sirius made it seem worthwhile. All four of the boys had detention, but had been split up into pairs, since James and Sirius together wouldn't get any work done if they were together. James and Peter had their detention together in the trophy room, leaving Remus and Sirius to be paired together in the hospital wing. Neither of them minded, as they secretly liked the idea of being alone together, although each of the two hid their feelings from the other.  
  
When they arrived at the hospital wing the next night they were both relieved to find that the bedpans didn't need scrubbing after all. Instead they were set to work changing the sheets on all the beds. They went to start their work, but Sirius had no idea how to do it, at home his mother always did it for him and at Hogwarts the house elves did it, so Remus had to explain it to him.  
  
"No Padfoot, you don't chuck the sheet on any how. You have to do it neatly, like this."  
  
After a quick demonstration from Remus, Sirius thought he could manage it by himself and slowly he did get the hang of it. He reached out to get a sheet for the next bed. At the same time Remus also went to grab a sheet from the pile and their fingers brushed together softly as they both tried to take the same one.  
  
Remus pulled his hand away quickly and let Sirius take the top sheet. Sirius tried to carry on as if nothing had happened, but he noticed that Remus had gone slightly pink in the face and thought it made him look cuter than ever.  
  
Remus felt awkward and said nothing to Sirius out of embarrassment. Sirius was a bit concerned at Remus' silence, until he realised that he'd also been silent.  
  
They continued to say nothing to each other as they finished changing the bed sheets. When Madam Pomfrey came to see how they were doing she was surprised to see that they were almost finished, and shocked that they were working in silence.  
  
"What's up with you two?" She asked. "Had an argument? You usually don't shut up when you're together."  
  
The two boys looked quickly at each other, then looked back at the nurse and shrugged their shoulders.  
  
"Well, since you've done such a good job you can finish your detention sitting here quietly."  
  
She left the two boys to sit on one of the beds together. They sat quietly for a few minutes, as neither knew what to say to the other.  
  
"So," Remus began awkwardly. "Had any new ideas for pranks recently?"  
  
"Not a thing yet, but don't worry, I haven't lost it yet. My talent for pranks I mean." Sirius sat there with a grin and Remus began to giggle quietly. He couldn't laugh too loudly or Madam Pomfrey would tell them off for making too much noise.  
  
"You look so cute when you giggle Moony." Sirius told his friend, before he could think about what he was saying.  
  
The second the words were out of his mouth he covered his face with his hands, in shock at what he'd let out.  
  
Remus was also shocked by what Sirius had said.  
  
"I'm what?" He whispered.  
  
"I, I, I," Sirius managed to get out before turning silent again. He had become speechless, unable to think of anything to say.  
  
Remus had to speak, as it looked like words had failed Sirius completely, whose face was as red as a beetroot by now.  
  
"Padfoot?" He whispered. "You know, you look cute when you're all embarrassed, Padfoot."  
  
Remus smiled, reaching out and taking Sirius' hands, moving them away from his face. At first Sirius resisted, but soon relaxed and allowed Remus to keep hold of his hands. Slowly he forced himself to meet Remus' gaze. What he saw in the other boys' eyes seemed to match his own feelings and he found himself leaning in towards Remus to meet his lips with his own.  
  
The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but as they broke apart both boys had huge grins on their faces. Sirius lay back against the pillows on the bed, and Remus rested his head on Sirius' shoulder.  
  
"So, you really think I'm cute?" Sirius teased, back to his usual playful self.  
  
"Second cutest boy in the school." Remus answered, grinning to himself against Sirius' shoulder.  
  
"Second?"  
  
"Oh yeah. Of course James is first."  
  
Sirius looked a little upset at this, until Remus started to laugh.  
  
"Of course you're first idiot, I was just winding you up."  
  
Sirius smiled again, as he tried to push Remus off the bed, then fell into a laughing fit as the other boy landed on the floor with a bang.  
  
At the sound Madam Pomfrey came rushing from her office. When she saw that it was just the two boys messing around and not anyone getting hurt she sent them back to their dormitory so they wouldn't disturb her anymore.  
  
They were sat on Sirius' bed chatting and laughing when James and Peter returned, looking annoyed and smelling strongly of polish.  
  
"Guess your detention was better than ours then?" James muttered when he heard them laughing.  
  
"Yup," grinned Sirius. "Ours was fun."  
  
Remus went pink and laughed slightly to himself, 'if only they knew what really happened' he thought.  
  
Suddenly Sirius shouted out, "Guess what James? Not only does Remus think I'm cute, but that I'm better looking than you."  
  
Remus could have died he was so embarrassed. He looked at Sirius.  
  
"But it's okay," the dark haired boy continued, still grinning, "I think he's the most gorgeous person I know."  
  
James and Peter exchanged a confused look at this, but Remus finally gave a smile, then pushed Sirius off the bed and started hitting him with one of the pillows. Sirius covered his face and was defenceless to Remus' beating until Peter rescued him by shouting,  
  
"Pillow fight."  
  
He and James both grabbed a pillow each and began hitting Remus with them. This gave Sirius a chance to get off the floor, grab himself a pillow and chase after the others. Soon all four boys were running after each other, pillows ready to strike out at the nearest to them.  
  
Ten minutes later saw James crouching in corner unable to move a Peter was hitting him repeatedly with two pillows, one of which he'd stolen from Remus.  
  
On the other side of the room Remus was lying on the floor breathless as Sirius tickled him, having decided it was unfair to hit him with a pillow while he had none to defend himself with.  
  
As soon as Remus got his breath back, Sirius leaned to kiss him, forgetting that James and Peter were still in the room. Remus also forgot the other two boys as he concentrated on kissing Sirius, running his slim fingers through Sirius' dark hair.  
  
When Peter got fed up of hitting James, he looked up to see where the other two were and was taken aback to see what they were doing.  
  
"Hey James," he whispered, "Er, look at those two."  
  
James looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. They went over to where the two still lay kissing each other. James cleared his throat and they broke apart suddenly.  
  
"Um guys? What's going on?"  
  
"Well James, see Remus here lost his breath, so I was helping him find some." Sirius flashed his most charming smile at his best friend. Remus couldn't help giggling at Sirius' reply, and the looks on James and Peter's faces.  
  
The other two laughed as well but their laughs well false and awkward as they tried to comprehend the situation between their two friends.  
  
"Well I'd better get to bed, it's getting late." James said, with a fake yawn. Peter agreed and both grabbed their pillows and headed for their beds. Remus and Sirius gave each other a quick peck on the lips as a way of saying goodnight, then also headed for their beds.  
  
The next morning when James woke up Sirius was the only Marauder left in the dorm. He decided to take this opportunity to question his best friend about the events of the previous night.  
  
"Sirius, can I talk to you?"  
  
"Well, obviously you're talking to me now, so I guess you can."  
  
"About you and Remus?" he asked again.  
  
"What about us?"  
  
"How long have you been, um, well, you know."  
  
"Since yesterday. Actually I've, er, kinda liked him for a while." Sirius cringed slightly, not knowing what James would think about this. When James didn't say anything he carried on.  
  
"Yeah, I've liked him for a while, and yesterday I found out he likes me too."  
  
"Well that's kind of sweet." James smiled at Sirius. His smile faded quickly though. "We're not going to be treated to too many, um, displays like last night are we? Even Lily and I aren't that bad."  
  
Sirius grinned. "We'll try to keep ourselves under control," he said, with a wink at James. He went serious again. "To be honest Prongs, I don't even know what's going to happen myself. I mean, we've kissed twice but we haven't really talked about what it all means or anything."  
  
"Maybe you should be talking to him then, instead of me. You know, to sort things out properly." James smiled at his best friend. "I think you'll make a good couple," he added, before playfully punching Sirius on the shoulder.  
  
"Thanks James. For being such an understanding friend, I mean." Sirius gave him a brief hug, then turned and walked off to find Remus. As he got to the door he heard James calling after him, "Go get him tiger. Or should I say Rover?"  
  
Sirius found Remus sitting in the common room with Peter, where they were waiting for Sirius and James to come downstairs so they could all go to breakfast.  
  
"Moony, can we talk?"  
  
Remus nodded, and got up from the chair. Sirius turned to Peter.  
  
"Wormtail, you and Prongs may as well go to breakfast without us. We'll meet you in the Great Hall before breakfast finishes."  
  
Peter nodded, and Sirius turned back to where Remus was now standing. He led the way out of the portrait hole, through the castle and out into the grounds. They walked together down to the lake and sat down on some nearby rocks, facing in to each other.  
  
"What's this all about?" Remus asked, hoping with all his heart that Sirius wasn't going to tell him that last night was a mistake and that their kisses meant nothing.  
  
"Us." Sirius began. Remus' heart sank a little.  
  
"I want, or need, to know whether you think there can be an 'us' or not."  
  
"What do you mean?" Remus asked softly.  
  
"I mean do you want us to be together? As a couple?" Sirius looked down at the ground, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer anymore, but needing to hear it either way.  
  
Remus looked at the dark haired boy and smiled.  
  
"Of course I do Sirius."  
  
Sirius looked up, the relief on his face was obvious. Remus really wanted him. He smiled happily at his fairer haired friend, now something so much more.  
  
Remus stood up and pulled Sirius up closer to him.  
  
"How could I not?" He whispered, before pulling Sirius into their third and best kiss yet.  
  
Review if you feel like it ( Just to let us know what you think. 


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